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An Enbridge training exercise on Tuesday included participation from South Stormont Fire Protection Services.

And South Stormont Fire Chief Gilles Crepeau was pleased that it did.

“I was very impressed with what I learned today (from Enbridge),” said Crepeau after the session, one that included an outdoor portion that had firefighters simulating a water rescue.

Enbridge Inc. is a Canadian multinational energy transportation company, and for the first time it held its training session in Long Sault, the focus being on an oil spill situation under the ice, and how it would be recovered.

“(Enbridge) invited us to take part in the training, and what our role would be in the event of a spill,” Crepeau said. “We all want to work together, and this was a really good opportunity for us.”

About a dozen firefighters participated, along with Enbridge employees, and Crepeau and South Stormont fire prevention officer Nick MacGillivray in the outdoor portion that was held at the Stormont Yacht Club explained what the fire department’s capabilities are in a water rescue situation.

“It’s currently in our regulatory bylaw (to do water rescues),” Crepeau said. “We’re limited in what we can do, but we cover so much of the waterway, we need to have (some water rescue capabilities). . . it’d be nice if we never had to use (a water rescue boat) but we have had to use it, so it’s nice to have it.”

The inflatable boat is connected to Enbridge, actually. Enbridge a few years ago donated $20,000 to the fire protection services over two years, and Crepeau said he decided to buy water rescue equipment with the money.

There was several hours of practical training work done indoors on Tuesday. There’ll be another session with different participants on Wednesday, and Crepeau said he’s invited some neighbouring fire departments to participate.

There are four stations in South Stormont, in the communities of St. Andrews West, Newington, Ingleside and Long Sault.

South Stormont Fire Protection Services covers an area of about 450 square kilometres, containing over 5,000 structures.